But after a recent closet clean-out/evaluation, I realized that I'm still trending heavily towards black and neutrals in many of my purchases. The problem is I love black and neutrals! But I also love all the exotic colors. In the end, when my dollars are on the line, the tried and true wins most of the time. My closet tells the story. (I think I counted 11 black cardigans) So I'm on a mission to get more color into my wardrobe. Easier said than done.
Color is tricky. We all have subtle preferences, some seemingly arbitrary, some deep seated. They guide us while we shop without our even realizing it. As I sift through a rack of clothes, or glance across a table of folded tee shirts, I am drawn to certain colors and I almost ignore others. I do it quickly and instinctively. The one or two colors I take to the dressing room or the checkout counter are often very similar, time and again. Sometimes these colors aren't even the ones that flatter me.
Seasonal color analysis used to be popular, where women were categorized into Winter, Spring, Summer or Fall color ranges used to guide their color choice to the most flattering shades. It's a little hokey, but there is some value to this idea. Certain colors just light us up, and we know it instantly. But everyone is unique, and it's not easy to find those colors that are perfect for us out in the retail market. I've been looking for a particular shade of twilight blue that really works for me for years, without luck. Baby blue doesn't do it, neither does periwinkle or chambray. It's a certain shade of pale icy blue with a hint of violet, and it's hard to find. Lately I'm trying to grab new and different colors to try on and get a feel for what works and what doesn't work with my coloring. I'm vowing to introduce at least a couple of new colors into my closet this fall.
All I can say is hooray for J. Crew for giving us color options. Sometimes they aren't flattering, sometimes they aren't available in our size, sometimes they annoyingly sell out before going on sale, and often they look completely different irl, but you have to admit they make shopping a whole lot more interesting.
I do stick to a specific palette! I like black, grey, navy and white. To add color I tend to collect pink shirts, white shirts and colorful sweaters. I do avoid neutrals because they wash out my skin tone. I have been trying to branch out to other colors, like spearmint and I do tend to buy solid colors in sweaters.
ReplyDeleteSue, this is such an interesting issue and really hits a bulls-eye with me.
ReplyDeleteWhen I sold expensive clothes, I always told my clients this:
(1) Find the color palette that works on you -- and there really is, as you say, legitimacy to the whole "seasonal colors" thing -- most women have one primary palette, and then the companion/secondary season (Fall with Spring, Winter with Summer) would look good but not quite AS good.
(2) Stick MOSTLY with your primary and secondary color palette when shopping, and this will build the most mix & match into your closet.
(3) Use colors outside your primary/secondary palettes ONLY for accessories or for a splash of color (say, a tee peeking out from under your cardi) but keep those "outsider" colors away from your face!
The truth is that when I practice what I preached, I look better. Period. And somehow my wardrobe looks extensive without having to BE extensive.
But lately I've been letting myself get way too lazy about this discipline. I am too often wowed and wooed by the way items look on other JCA's. When I see a killer outfit, I find myself looking to see whether the other gal has a body shape similar to mine, and if she does, I let myself get all excited about a darling little outfit, and I'll buy the outfit without trying it on (especially if there's a sale price!), and then ALMOST WITHOUT FAIL I end up taking at least some of the outfit back to my B&M because the COLORS don't work on me -- even if the garment shape works just fine on my body shape.
If I had a nickel for every time I've returned something for this exact reason...!!!
I really do need to listen to my own advice and get myself back to a stricter palette of MY basics. Like my wise pal Kathy. ;-)
Kathy and JCAUNCMom---I try to stick to a color palette, or palettes, but I get bored! That's when I can waste money experimenting with colors that ultimately sit in my closet. JCAUNCMom, I wish I knew what my ideal palette and secondary palette is...I just know a few random colors that do and don't work for me, but I need a system! I think it's really hard for most of us to look in the mirror objectively and really see how we look. Sometimes I know I 'see' what I want to look like (damn J. Crew models) and not what's really there. I had my daughter with me recently while trying on some things at J. Crew and I showed her a sweater in one of my beloved pale neutral shades, and she just shook her head and told me that those colors just washed me out. I was devastated!
ReplyDeleteI think this topic deserves more posts!
Hey Sue, if you Google "finding your color palette" you'll see a zillion sites where this whole issue is discussed, and you can see pictures of the four color palettes. There are several ways to go about figuring out which ones are your primary and secondary, but I have always had great success for myself and for my clients using a pretty simple method, which I'll explain for you.
ReplyDeleteAll you need to figure out is whether you have warm, yellow or peach undertones to your skin or cool, pink or blue undertones to your skin. Everyone has one or the other, even people who are quite pale or quite dark.
The most accurate place to examine is the underside of your forearm, assuming that it isn't tanned via sun or bottle. :-) Take a piece of white paper (like computer paper) and go someplace where there is strong, natural light. Now flip your arm over so that your palm is facing upwards, and lay your arm onto the white paper. Look closely at your forearm and compare your skin to the paper. Do you see yellow or peach? Do you see pink or blue, or even violet? If you're not sure, ask one or two other people to look and tell you what they see.
Once you know whether you're yellow-peach-warm or pink-blue-violet-cool, identifying your color palettes become really easy.
Warm, peachy-yellow undertones to your skin equals Fall and Spring color palettes. They're all colors that look like they've had a bit of yellow added to them. So you're talking about a buttery yellow (versus a lemon yellow, which is Winter/Summer), a yellow-y, watermelon-y coral (versus a pinky coral), an orange-y red (versus a blue-red), a yellow-y eggplant purple (versus a cool blueberry-pie purple) etc. Fall colors (which include all of the October leaf season landscape colors) are stronger than Spring colors; you might say that Spring colors are Fall colors with a bit of baby powder added to soften them up. So choosing which of these two palettes is your "primary" is fairly subjective, and it will just depend upon factors like how strongly colored and dark your hair and eyes are, and how pale your skin is.
By contrast, if you have cool pink-blue-violet undertones to your skin, you're going to look better in the Winter-Summer palettes. The Winter colors are clear, strong and cool. Think gem-stone colors, like a blue-red the color of rubies (or American Beauty roses), or the icy royal blue of a sapphire. And again, the Summer palette is the Winter color family with baby powder added to kind of "pastel" them out. If these are your two palettes, then, again, whether your "primary" is Winter or Summer will depend on the strength of your coloring.
Just to give you an example, in my own case, I'm a natural auburn brunette with hazel eyes and naturally pale, freckly, definitely yellow-undertoned Irish skin. So the best colors in my closet are the ones in the Fall/Spring palettes. When I'm wearing my hair darker, I can carry off the Fall colors beautifully -- warm olive green, strong honey-glaze yellow, true orange, warm chocolate brown, blazing autumn red. But if I've blonded up my hair quite a bit (as I periodically do), then the Fall colors are too much -- they overwhelm my face and I look better in the Spring palette. Say, a peachy coral instead of a strong orange. As my "blonder self" I can still wear my Fall colors, but I need to keep them away from my face.
Oh, and one other related thing. Fall/Spring gals generally look better in gold-toned jewelry. Winter/Summer gals look better in silver-toned jewelry (which is much cooler and icier, you see?)
Sorry this got long-winded -- I should have made it a post on my blog instead of a comment!! Hope this helps you!!!
Great topic and great suggestions from JCAUNCMom as well. I do get in a color rut, of my neutrals - but I also find that they are safer than trying to make the J Crew palette fit my wardrobe. Sometimes their colors just don't work on me and, to be honest, shadow is one of my all-time fave colors.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting!!